Hi. I have 2 questions:
1. I made the Ken Forkish Overnight Country Brown Sourdough and it turned out great, but now I would like to make it using only whole wheat, rye and spelt flours combined. I don't want to use any white flour. Can someone help me figure out how many grams of each to use (and how much water)? I'm really stuck as to how to adjust his recipe as written in the book.
2. Instead of building up the levain as his recipe calls for, can I just use my active starter that I keep happy and fed on my counter?
Thanks so much.
Welcome to the TFL bread club, where some of us are half-baked, but no one is real crummy.
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"I'm really stuck as to how to adjust his recipe as written in the book. "
That is a typical newbie mistake.
One does not change the type of the majority flour in a recipe/formula from refined/white wheat to whole wheat, or a different grain such as spelt, and make mere "adjustments."
Here is the answer: You need to find a pre-existing and tested recipe that uses, that was _designed for_, the ingredients that you want to use. The FWSY Overnight country brown was designed for the ingredients it calls for.
Page 174 shows that that formula uses 70% white flour, and 30% whole wheat. You want to use all whole grain, and also to swap out some wheat for spelt and rye, and use the same recipe "with adjustments"? The best answer is: your goal actually requires a completely different recipe.
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Going from majority white flour to majority whole grain (or non-wheat) is a huge step for a beginner. There are new things to learn with how whole grains, spelt, and rye behave.
May I suggest you first learn whole wheat baking by doing the 75% whole wheat levain bread on page 144 of FWSY.
After you get that under your belt, then you will be better prepared for 100% whole wheat, or using spelt and/or rye.
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Unfortunately, Forkish doesn't go over 75% whole wheat in his book. But there are other authors who do, and there are plenty of recipes/formulas on TFL for whole wheat, and whole wheat plus spelt.
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Good luck, and bon appétit !
idaveindy is right, I can speak from personal experience. Instead of trying to convert a recipe into something it was never intended to be, find a recipe meant for whole grains. Check out the whole grains forum on here for great resources and tips on how to treat whole grain doughs.
I think your starter should be fine? My bakes are comparable between those made from fresh levain, and those made from a freshly fed mother starter that doubled in the same time as if I had made a levain.